Legendary acts, big-name newbies to heat up stage in Big Smoke next year
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A farewell tour by The Eagles, the re-emergence of the Material Girl and the Boss following health issues and the mother of all touring artists — Taylor Swift — are among my top-10 list of touring artists coming to Toronto in 2024, here in chronological order (not ranking):
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1. Madonna, Jan. 11 and 12, Scotiabank Arena
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After a serious bacterial infection led to an ICU hospital stay and delayed the start of her tour, the Material Girl’s Celebration Tour, offering up four decades of hits, finally got underway last fall. Let’s just say the 65-year-old Madonna is giving all senior citizens a run for their money.
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2. Feist, March 3 and 4, Massey Hall
She’s got one of my all-time favourite husky voices, stage personas and senses of style. Canadian singer-songwriter-guitarist Leslie Feist will leave you impressed, mark my words, as she tours in support of her Multitudes album, her first in six years.
3. The Eagles with Steely Dan, March 13 and 14, Scotiabank Arena
They’re calling it the Long Goodbye after more than 50 years as a band and for good reason, given they started this farewell trek last year and it’s not expected to wrap up until 2025. But what I really like is the two-for-one element given Steely Dan is opening for the current Eagles lineup of Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, with Vince Gill and Deacon Frey (son of Glenn).
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4. Olivia Rodrigo, March 29 and 30, Scotiabank Arena
Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is named after the 20-year-old Disney child star-turned-pop sensation’s sophomore album. We will see if she can handle arenas after playing theatres her first time out in 2022 for her debut album Sour.
5. Nicki Minaj, April 18, Scotiabank Arena
The colourful female rapper-actor’s Pink Friday 2 world tour, named after her just-released No. 1 album, is her largest arena trek to date and should capture her uniqueness if it’s done right. It’s also Minaj’s first tour in five years, so highly anticipated.
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6. Gwen Stefani, May 3, and Blake Shelton, May 4, The Theatre at the Great Canadian Casino Resort
The grand-opening weekend of Canada’s largest casino resort will see its new 5,000-seat theatre host back-to-back shows by real-life, A-list couple Stefani and Shelton. And any new music venue is always welcome in North America’s third-largest concert market that is Toronto.
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7. Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, Jason Bonham with Loverboy, July 31, Budweiser Stage
If we can’t have Van Halen, then how about Van Hagar? The Red Rocker and sometime singer of Van Halen — now 76 years old — will head out with original VH bassist Anthony, guitarist wiz Satriani and Bonham, son of Led Zep’s John, for the Best of All Worlds Summer 2024 Tour. And Canadian rock vets Loverboy are opening. Loving every minute of it.
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8. Green Day with Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas, Aug. 1, Rogers Centre
Green Day more than proved they’ve still got it with their Grey Cup halftime performance, so when they return with their Saviors Tour, backed by ’90s rock acts Smashing Pumpkins and Rancid, plus female punk quartet The Linda Lindas, they should blow the roof off the stadium. Although hopefully the roof will be open given it’s in August.
9. Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, Nov. 3 and 6, Scotiabank Arena
The Boss, now 74 years old, had to reschedule a bunch of 2023 dates, including ones in Toronto, due to a peptic ulcer diagnosis, so his return to T.O. will be even more welcome than usual. Now let’s see if the usual marathon-long shows continue. Can’t imagine them not.
10. Taylor Swift, Nov. 14-16 and Nov 21-23, Rogers Centre
Swift has created her own Swiftonomics as she travels from city to city increasing their GDP with her acclaimed Eras tour that sees her playing 44 songs for 3.5 hours. Swift’s show is, without question, the tough ticket to get and she’s already announced six dates in T.O.
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